Ultramicrofiche viewer having axially movable and rotatable drum

ABSTRACT

An ultramicrofiche viewer mounting system for a drum carrying an ultramicrofiche card where the drum is guided by four rollers having external flanges engageable with portions of the drum, each roller mounted to a rod so as to be translatable thereto. The rods in turn are rotatably connected to a housing so that less friction is developed in rotation of the rods than in translation of the rollers on the rods.

United States Patent [19] Brooks et al.

[ Dec.3,1974

ULTRAMICROFICIIE VIEWER HAVING AXIALLY MOVABLE AND ROTATABLE DRUM Inventors: Herbert Brooks, La Verne; John D.

Gearheart, Covina; John L. Jones, Gardena, all of Calif.

Assignee: UMF Systems Incorporated, Los

Angeles, Calif.

Filed: July 26, 1973 Appl. No.: 382,956

Related U.S. Application Data Continuation-impart of Ser. No. 225,712, May 22, 1972, Pat. No. 3,799,663.

U.S. Cl. .1 353/27, 353/108 Int. Cl. G03b 21/11, G03b 23/10 Field of Search 353/25-27,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,767,610 10/1956 Hintz 353/27 3,746,440 7/1973 Wiseman 353/108 3,762,808 5/1971 Sandmeir 353/108 Primary Examiner-Harry N. Haroian Assistant Examiner-A. J. Mirabito Attorney, Agent, or FirmI-Iarris, Kern, Wallen & Tinsley [5 7] ABSTRACT An ultramicrofiche viewer mounting system for a drum carrying an ultramicrofiche card where the drum is guided by four rollers having external flanges engageable with portions of the drum, each roller mounted to a rod so as to be translatable thereto. The rods in turn are rotatably connected to a housing so that less friction is developed in rotation of the rods than in translation of the rollers on the rods.

14 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures PATENIEL DEC 3 I974 saw u or 4 CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS The present application is a continuation-in-part of an application entitled ULTRAMICROFICHE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION l. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a mounting system and, more particularly, to a drum mounting system for a viewer where the drum is adapted to carry information to be viewed, such as photographically reduced data carried by an ultramicrofiche. The drum is mounted to allow reliable and precise rotation and axial translation that information contains on various portions of the ultramicrofiche may be easily and quickly placed into focus and viewed.

2. Description of the Prior Art The increasing burden of storing and handling printed material has been a prime cause for the development of methods for miniturization. Reducing the bulk of printed material eases the physical burden of handling, lowers cost and has a positve environmental effect. A number of years ago the use of micro-imagery came into existence. This allowed the microfilming of printed publications, a reduction in size between 6 and 40 times and the advent of a viewer or reader device which would receive a micro-image or microfiche card bearing the information and then display this information on a screen in a size approximating that of the original printed document. U.S. Pat. No. 3,267,801 illustrates such a viewer, for example.

A continuing desire to reduce even further the size of printed documents has led to the development of the ultramicrofiche technology in which size reduction is between 50 and '250 times. This size reduction would allow a library consisting of 20,000 volumes or 6 million'pages to be reduced in size (by using 3 by 5 inch ultramicrofiche cards) to a total storage area of 2 k square feet. It can be appreciated that the savings in storage facilities and use of paper alone are substantial.

While the photographic technology to reduce in size printed material has been developed, a reliable and inexpensive device for magnifying these ultramicrofiche cards has been difficult to produce because of unique problems involved. Because of extreme miniturization any system used to project, in a readable size, material from an ultramicrofiche requires precise focusing of a magnification lens. In addition, this precise focusing must remain while the ultramicrofiche is scanned or indexed; that is, while there is movement between the lens and the ultramicrofiche, such as when a viewer moves from one portion on the ultramicrofiche to another portion. It is understood that only a very small portion of the ultramicrofiche may be focused at any instant in time assuming the viewer apparatus is to be within a reasonable size and expense range for commercialization. It is also to be understood that any viewer apparatus which is developed must not only be reliable but also simply constructed in order to achieve a reasonably low cost of assembly and manufacture. Further, the apparatus must be easy to operate so that an operator need not be highly skilled.

SUMMARY or THE INVENTION The above-mentioned problems have been overcome by the present invention which provides a drum mounting system for a viewer, or the like, having a housing; a plurality of rollers mounted to the housing so as to be rotatable and translatable relative to the housing; and a drum supported by the rollers having a handle-extending beyond the housing whereby appropriate movement of the handle causes rotation and/or translation of the drum.

An important aspect of the present invention is to develop a drum mounting system for an ultramicrofiche viewer which allows precise rotation and axial translation of the drum.

Another aim of the present invention is to provide a drum mounting system which is a low-friction mechanism whereby static friction is approximately equal to or lower than dynamic friction.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a reliable, simply constructed drum mounting system which may be manufactured and assembled at a relatively low cost.

Still another aim of the present invention is to provide an apparatus which is exceedingly easy and quick to use and where the movements required of an operator are relatively natural movements, which an opera tor would expect when using a system having the observable mechanical characteristics of the present invention.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear from the following description taken in conjunction with accompanying drawings.

BRIEFDESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a viewer embodying the invention herein.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged partially broken-away perspec' tive view of the viewer shown in FIG. 1 with the internal mechanisms exposed to illustrate the placement of an ultramicrofiche on the drum.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional elevational view of the viewer of FIG. 1 illustrating an image path for the information contained on the ultramicrofiche.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged plan view partially sectional taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view similar to but more broken away than that shown in FIG. 2 for illustrating the drum in a position after being rotated and translated axially.

FIG. 6 is a sectional plan view of a rod illustrating a low friction mounting.

FIG. 7 is a plan view, transmitter.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS While the present invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative constructions, the illustrative embodiments are shown in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. It should be understood, however, that it is not the intention to limit the invention to the particular forms disclosed; but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivapartly schematic, of a light lences and alternative constructions falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as expressed in the appended claims.

Referring now to FIG. 1 there is illustrated an ultramicrofiche viewer having an outer housing 12 to which is mounted a viewing screen 14 and an index window 16. Also illustrated is an outwardly extending handle 18 which is integral with a drum extending inwardly within the housing as will be described hereinbelow. Also illustrated is an adjustment knob 20 extending outwardly from the outer housing 12, the adjustment knob being for the purpose of focusing a lens. As can be seen, at least from the outer structure, a very compact, simple and pleasingly designed viewer is illustrated.

A viewer like that illustrated may be used in a number of ways, such as for the verification of credit card purchases. In such a system the names of the credit cards to be verified are located circumferentially about the handle 18. This might include, for example, the names of Mastercharge, Diner's Club, Carte Blanche and American Express. Circumferential regions on the drum are reversed for each of the four mentioned credit cards and correspond to similarly spaced portions on an ultramicrofiche. As explained in more detail in the above-mentioned patent application Ser. No. 255,712, the ultramicrofiche contains indicia whereby an exact area on the ultramicroflche may be located as a function of known information. By way of example, the ultramicrofiche may contain information regarding cancelled or stolen credit cards by the numbers on the cards. A cashier prior to sale need only take a code number from the credit card in question and rotate and/or translate the handle 18 in order to align the proper indicia as viewed through the window 16 and thereby have the desired information appear upon the screen 14. Again by way of example, if in fact the questioned credit card has been stolen, a listing of the credit card number would so inform the cashier and appropriate action could then be taken. As can be appreciated from the above description, operation of the viewer is exceedingly simple and quick. In large measure this is due to the drum mounting system to be described here-k inbelow.

Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 3, the handle 18 is shown attached to a drum 22 having an annular portion 24 upon which an ultramicrofiche 26 is mounted. Attachment is achieved simply by placing two openings 28 and 30 in the upper portion of the ultramicrofiche onto pegs 32 and 34 respectively which are biased by wire spring 36. Pulling against the biased spring, the bottom portion of the ultramicrofiche, which also includes two openings 38 and 40, is pulled over corresponding pegs 42 and 44. The viewer includes a motor 50, a lens 52 connected by a coupling to the adjustment knob 20, a mirror system comprising three mirrors 56, 58 and 60 and a light source 59.

The drum 22 is mounted within the housing 12 upon four rotatable rods 62, 64, 68 and 70. Rotatable with the rods are rollers of which only rollers 71 and 72 are shown, these rollers being mounted upon rods 62 and 64 respectively. Each roller is mounted so as to be able to rotate about its rod and in addition be able to transusually rotate with its rod. Each of the rollers contains a tubular center portion 74 and two end caps 76 and 78 (FIGS. 2 and 4).

One of the major advantages of the mounting system for the drum is that it operates at a low friction to both rotational movement and axial movement of the drum and yet still allows precise movement. Further, the system provides this relatively sophisticated movement and yet is simply constructed, highly reliable and low in cost. Referring now to FIGS. 2, 4, and 6, there is illustrated in more detail the structure of the mounting system. The roller 72 includes a central tubular portion 80 having end caps 82 and 84. As clearly shown in FIG. 4, each of the end caps includes an external flange such as a flange 86 of the end cap 82 and flange 88 of the end cap 84. The annular portion 24 of the drum is defined by and is located between right-angle edges 90 and 92. The end caps 82 and 84 with their respective flanges 86 and 88 ride along the edges 90 and 92 respectively to guide the annular portion and thereby the drum.

Low friction rotation of the drum is achieved by specially constructing the rods; by way of example, the rod 62, FIG. 6, has two small dimensioned end projections 63, 65 each received within openings 67, 69 of low friction bushings 75, 73 respectively. The bushings in turn are received within openings in inner frame members 83, 85. To assemble, the bushing 73 having a flange 77 is fitted to the frame member the bushing 75 is then inserted into the frame member 83 so as to receive the end projection 63. A clip 79 is received within a groove 81 in the bushing to retain the bushing and thereby the rod in place. The clip functions like the flange 77 of the bushing 73. A set screw 87 received within an enlarged portion of the opening 67 allows a thrust or bias to be placed upon the rod so that undesired lateral movement (movement in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis of the rod) is prevented. The small contact area between the projections and the bushings, and the materials used, such as nickel finished steel, combine to make rotation of the drum extremely easy; very little effort is needed on the handle 18, FIG. 1. All of the other rods 64, 68, 70 are similarly constructed and mounted.

The roller is rotatable relative to the rod upon which it is mounted; however, because the rods have a lower resistance to rotation relative to the frame than do the rollers relative to the rods, rotation of the drum will cause the rods to rotate while the rollers remain rotationally stationary relative to the rods.

Low friction translation is achieved by the way in which the roller is supported by its rod and by the materials used. For example, referring once again to FIG. 4, the roller 72 is supported on the rod 64 by an integral internal annular flange 94. A similar flange (not shown) is at the other end of the roller. As can be readily appreciated, the two annular flanges, though having small areas in contact with the rod, are sufficient to support the roller in a stable position upon the rod and yet because of this relatively small area of contact, a relatively small amount of friction is generated when there is relative movement. The rod 64 may be nickel coated steel or stainless steel and a dry-lube spray may be applied to the rods to further facilitate movement. The end caps 82, 84 including the internal flanges may be made of a synthetic resin such as that sold under the trademark Delrin 500 It may now be appreciated that the drum can be moved in rotation or translation without slipping, sticking or jumping.

The structure just described has the additional feature of having a higher dynamic friction than static friction; that is, the force necessary to maintain motion between the roller and the rod is greater than the force needed to initiate motion. Usually a greater force is necessary to initiate movement and thereby overcome static friction than is necessary to maintain movement and thereby overcome dynamic friction.

The rollers are further advantageous because the end caps 82, 84 are relatively far from one another and are fixed spatially one from the other. This increases stability of the roller on the rod and also assures a stable support for the drum.

In order to compensate for manufacturing tolerances and to more firmly control and guide the drum, the fourth roller 72 is also provided with two O-rings 100, 102, FIG. 4, mounted to each of the end caps. Additionally, the rod 64 is mounted within a slot 104, FIG. 2, so that a pivoted arm 106 may be positioned to bear downwardly against the rod. The arm 106 is pivoted about a screw 108, and the downward pivoting force is adjustably set by a locking screw 110 bearing against the back wall 112 integral with inner frame members 83, 85. Biasing of the roller 72 against the drum is achieved by the arm 106 bearing on the end of the rod 64 (and a similar arm not shown exerting a force on the opposite end of the rod 64) and the resiliency of the two O-rings 100, 102. By squeezing the O-rings against the drum, a consistently applied force is provided, the force being such to keep the drum in the position in which it is set without, however, being so great as to interfere with the movement of the drum. The biasing force is to maintain a constant loading of the drum over the variation of drum diameter wither within itself or due to expansion and contraction from changes in temperature of wear, for example. For an inexpensive system, movement of the drum is accomplished stably and precisely.

An additional advantage of the mounting system is that it allows precise movement of the drum, as mentioned, and yet the movement may be done very quickly and in a fashion which is easily learned by an operator. Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 5, it was men-,

breviated MC, and that the code number from the credit card is 238, an operator would look.to a region 120 on the ultramicrofiche designated by an index number 238. To come within the general area of the correct region, the operator first aligns the drum in the Mastercharge area. To help achieve this light transmitnumber aligns the region 120 with the focal path of the lens 52. To properly align the drum so that the region 120 moves from the location shown in FIG. 2 to the location shown in FIG. 5, the operator of the viewer would have to rotate the drum in a counterclockwise direction as well as move the drum axially toward the right. The operator merely grasps the handle 18 to rotate the handle in a counterclockwise direction desig nated by the arrow 122 so as to align the numeral 2 of the set 91 with a reference line (not shown) on the scale lens 96. By so moving, the drum is rotated about its central axis while the rollers and rods are rotated about their own central axes. Next, the operator translates the drum in a direction parallel to the abovementioned axes designated by the arrow 124. During these motions the operator need simply watch the indicia displayed through the window 16 to determine when the proper alignment has occurred. A more complete explanation of the operation of the locating system is found in co-pending application, Ser. No. 255,712, filed May 22, 1972, and assigned to the same assignee as the present application, Ser. No. 255,712 now being U.S, Pat. No. 3,799,633, issued Mar. 26, 1974. It is to be emphasized that the rotational and the translational movements of the drum are accomplished readily by the operators right hand. Since the mounting system is a low-friction one and since there is a greater dynamic friction than static friction, an operator need merely pivot the wrist to cause rotation and pull or push very gently to achieve translation. Because, the rotation of the rods encounters less functional force than does translation of the rollers along the rods, rotating the drum will not inadvertently cause translation. This is helpful should the operator wish to scan a long column of numbers, for example. The above-described movements allow the precise setting of the drum location in a relatively easy and yet inexpensive manner'. For example, the above-described mechanism obviates the need for a far more expensive set of gears and pulleys which one might expect necessary to achieve the precise locating requirements of the drum. The movements described are relatively simple ones not requiring a great deal of dexterity and are ones that the operator would be used to making in his daily life such as in the operation of manipulating a door knob to open a door.

The drum as well as the ultramicrofiche is constructed of light transparent material such as polycarbonate so that light from the light source 59, FIG. 3, is transmitted through the drum and the ultramicrofiche to and through the lens 52 to the mirror 60. The light is then reflected from the mirror 60 to the mirror 58, from the mirror 58 to the mirror 56, and from the mirror 56 to the screen 14 as depicted by the series of lines 130. The indicia on the ultramicrofiche and scale lens are displayed through a magnifying lens 132 through the window 16.

In summary, what has been described in a reliable yet simply constructed mounting system which is relatively inexpensive to manufacture and to assemble and yet achieves the desired results of providing easy yet positive movement of the drum to align the desired regions of an ultramicrofiche with the lens.

' I claim:

1. A mounting system for an information carrying drum comprising in combination:

a housing;

a plurality of rollers mounted to said housing so as to be rotatable and translatable relative to said housing; and

a drum supported by said rollers having a handle extending beyond said housing whereby appropriate movement of said handle causes rotation and/or translation of said drum.

2. A mounting system as claimed in claim 1 wherein each of said rollers is mounted about a rod; and the rods are rotatably connected to said housing, each rod being rotatable with less force than is needed to translate a roller along a rod.

3. A mounting system as claimed in claim 1 wherein:

said drum includes an ultramicrofiche carrying portion, said portion being defined by two right angle edges;

each of said rollers is mounted about a rod and is translatable relative to said rod;

each of said rods is rotatably connected to said housing where rotation of a rod develops less friction than translation of a roller along a rod; and

each roller includes two spaced apart flanges for engaging said edges of said ultramicrofiche carrying portion for guiding said portion as said handle is manipulated.

4. A mounting system as claimed in claim 3 wherein each rod has small dimensioned end projections received within low friction bushings connected to said housing.

5. A mounting system as claimed in claim 4 wherein each of said rollers includes two oppositely disposed internal flanges for supporting said roller on a rod, each of said flanges having a small area of contact with the rod.

6. A mounting system as claimed in claim 3 wherein said drum is made of light transmitting material; and including a light transmitting rod positioned with said drum to receive light from a source and direct the light to a preselected location on said drum for guiding an operator of said drum in aligning said drum.

7. A mounting system for an information carrying drum, saidd drum to be rotatable and axially movable, comprising in combination:

a housing;

a drum connected to said housing and adapted to be movable relative thereto having an annular portion to which may be attached an information displaying card positioned between right-angle edges defining said portion, said drum including a handle portion extending outwardly from said housing;

a plurality of rods having smooth surfaces rotatably attached to said housing; and

a plurality of rollers each roller supported by a corresponding rod and translatable relative thereto, each roller including a tubular center portion and two end portions where each end portion has an extemal flange to engage said edges of said drum whereby rotating of said handles rotates said drum about its central axis and translation of said handle translates said drum, said movement of said drum being guided by said rollers.

8. A mounting system as claimed in claim 7 wherein one of said rollers includes a pair of O-rings, one each mounted on an end portion adjacent said external flange.

9. A mounting system as claimed in claim 7 wherein said rollers include low friction means for mounting each of said rollers to a corresponding rod, and said rods are rotatable relative to said housing with less force than in needed to translate said rollers relative to said rods.

10. A drum mounting system for an information retrieval viewer or the like having a housing, a drum within the housing for carrying information whereby a light in conjunction with a lens allows projection of portions of said information upon a screen wherein the improvement comprises:

a. said drum including an end handle portion and an annular portion upon which that information is attached, said annular portion being defined by rightangle edges; and including b. a plurality of rods rotatably connected to said housing and spaced circumferentially around said drum; and

c. a plurality of rollers supported by said rods, each of said rollers being translatable in a direction parallel to the axis of said rods wherein said rollers include spaced apart external flanges for engaging said right-angle edges of said drum whereby said drum may be rotated aboutits own central axis and translated in a direction parallel to said central axis, said rods and rollers acting to guide said drum during said rotation and translation.

11. A mounting system as claimed in claim 10 wherein one of said rollers includes a pair of O-rings, one each mounted adjacent said external flanges.

12. A mounting system as claimed in claim 11 wherein said rollers include low friction means for mounting each of said rollers to a corresponding rod.

projection.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION PATENT NO.: 3,851,960 DATED December 3, 1974 INVENTOR(S) HERBERT BROOKS et a1 It is certified that error appears m the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 5, line 34, "wither" should be -whether--.

Column 8, line 14, (claim 9) "in" should be --is--.

Signed and sealed this 10th day of June 1975.

(SEAL) Attest:

v C. MARSHALL DANN RUTH C. MASON Commissioner of Patents Attesting Officer and Trademarks gang UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,851,960 Dated December 3, 1974 Inventor(s) Herbert Brooks et a1 It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 1, line 21, after "translation" insert -so-- Column 1, line 21, "contains" should be --contained-- Column 3, line 55, after "coupling" insert "54-- Column 5, line 36,"of" should be --or-- Column 7, line 41, (Claim 7) "saidd" should be --said-- iigned and sealed this 15th day of .pril B75.

(SQ- .7..) fattest:

C. IL-\F;3 -lJ-.LL B B-.233? RUTZT C. 31- 5363? Commissioner of Patents attesting 'J'J'ficer and Trademarks 

1. A mounting system for an information carrying drum comprising in combination: a housing; a plurality of rollers mounted to said housing so as to be rotatable and translatable relative to said housing; and a drum supported by said rollers having a handle extending beyond said housing whereby appropriate movement of said handle causes rotation and/or translation of said drum.
 2. A mounting system as claimed in claim 1 wherein each of said rollers is mounted about a rod; and the rods are rotatably connected to said housing, each rod being rotatable with less force than is needed to translate a roller along a rod.
 3. A mounting system as claimed in claim 1 wherein: said drum includes an ultramicrofiche carrying portion, said portion being defined by two right angle edges; each of said rollers is mounted about a rod and is translatable relative to said rod; each of said rods is rotatably connected to said housing where rotation of a rod develops less friction than translation of a roller along a rod; and each roller includes two spaced apart flanges for engaging said edges of said ultramicrofiche carrying portion for guiding said portion as said handle is manipulated.
 4. A mounting system as claimed in claim 3 wherein each rod has small dimensioned end projections received within low friction bushings connected to said housing.
 5. A mounting system as claimed in claim 4 wherein each of said rollers includes two oppositely disposed internal flanges for supporting said roller on a rod, each of said flanges having a small area of contact with the rod.
 6. A mounting system as claimed in claim 3 wherein said drum is made of light transmitting material; and including a light transmitting rod positioned with said drum to receive light from a source and direct the light to a preselected location on said drum for guiding an operator of said drum in aligning said drum.
 7. A mounting system for an information carrying drum, saidd drum to be rotatable and axially movable, comprising in combination: a housing; a drum connected to said housing and adapted to be movable relative thereto having an annular portion to which may be attached an information displaying card positioned between right-angle edges defining said portion, said drum including a handle portion extending outwardly from said housing; a plurality of rods having smooth surfaces rotatably attached to said housing; and a plurality of rollers each roller supported by a corresponding rod and translatable relative thereto, each roller including a tubular center portion and two end portions where each end portion has an external flange to engage said edges of said drum whereby rotating of said handles rotates said drum about its central axis and translation of said handle translates said drum, said movement of said drum being guided by said rollers.
 8. A mounting system as claimed in claim 7 wherein one of said rollers includes a pair of O-rings, one each mounted on an end portion adjacent said external flange.
 9. A mounting system as claimed in claim 7 wherein said rollers include low friction means for mounting each of said rollers to a corresponding rod, and said rods are rotatable relative to said housing with less force than in needed to translate said rollers relative to said rods.
 10. A drum mounting system for an information retrieval viewer or the like having a housing, a drum within the housing for carrying information whereby a light in conjunction with a lens allows projection of portions of said information upon a screen wherein the improvement comprises: a. said drum including an end handle portion and an annular portion upon which that information is attached, said annular portion being defined by right-angle edges; and including b. a plurality of rods rotatably connected to said housing and spaced circumferentially around said drum; and c. a plurality of rollers supported by said rods, each of said rollers being translatable in a direction parallel to the axis of said rods wherein said rollers include spaced apart external flanges for engaging said right-angle edges of said drum whereby said drum may be rotated about its own central axis and translated in a direction parallel to said central axis, said rods and rollers acting to guide said drum during said rotation and translation.
 11. A mounting system as claimed in claim 10 wherein one of said rollers includes a pair of O-rings, one each mounted adjacent said external flanges.
 12. A mounting system as claimed in claim 11 wherein said rollers include low friction means for mounting each of said rollers to a corresponding rod.
 13. A mounting system as claimed in claim 12 wherein said low friction means comprises two spaced apart internal flanges.
 14. A mounting system as claimed in claim 10 wherein each rod has a small dimensioned end projection, one of said end projections being biased, and including: bushings received by said housing, each bushing having a small opening for receiving a corresponding projection. 